But the decision to sack half his company's workforce, he says, was the right one.

"I had to save the company, save as many jobs as possible, and save as much shareholder value as possible," he argues.

So he took the "rational decision" to cut all divisions that were dragging down 3Com.

Emotionally - "eye to eye" - it was not that easy.

Mr Claflin fired 40% of the managers reporting directly to him, people he himself had hired.

The ABC of hi-tech trouble

How 3Com has fallen. The manufacturer of computer networking equipment is probably best known for its US Robotics brand of modems, and the fact that it once owned Palm, the maker of the ubiquitous palm top computers.

Bruce Claflin: "First survive, then thrive."

Less than two years ago, 3Com's share price peaked at about $22. It now trades at just over $4.

The firm once had more than 12,000 employees. Half of them have now gone.

And a few outsourcing deals and cutbacks later, 3com is left with only one production facility, in Ireland, having closed down factories in California and Singapore.

Faced with what he describes as the widest and broadest tech industry downturn in living memory, Bruce Claflin has cut everything that does not promise growth or good profits.